We believe that every baby and mother should be kept together or close together. Help us to lobby for accommodation for parents of premature babies. Help us to promote the well being of both mother and baby, by keeping them together.

Please sign this petition we have started to help create awareness of this problem.

www.ipetitions.com/petition/keep-parents-and-premature-babies-together
By signing this petition you are agreeing that parents especially mothers should have access to accommodation while their baby is in the one of the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units in one of the Dublin Maternity Hospitals. You are agreeing that parents have enough stress and concerns about the health and survival of their baby without the added worry of trying to find or pay for accommodation. You believe accommodation should be provided by the government so parents can stay with their baby while they are in hospital and you are helping to promote and support the well being of premature babies and their parents by keeping them close together.

If you have a premature born outside Dublin and if your baby is very premature or very ill, your little premature baby will be transported up to one of the Neo-natal Intensive Care Units (NICU’s) in one of the three Dublin Maternity Hospitals, i.e. The Rotunda, The Coombe or National Maternity Hospital. The baby will have access to specialist care in the units and these units are in close proximity to Crumlin & Temple Children’s hospital for any surgeries the baby may require.

A very premature baby can spend weeks or months in intensive care, before they are able to go home or be transported back to their local hospital. The problem faced by parents in Ireland, is that there is no accommodation for parents in the Dublin maternity hospitals. Unfortunately, the maternity hospitals are at maximum capacity and they cannot facilitate mothers or fathers to stay with their baby. Parents must sort out private accommodation like local hotels or B & B’s. You can imagine the costs of paying for weeks/months for any type of private accommodation, the costs are astronomical and many mothers can't afford to be with their baby. If you have a baby in Temple Street or Crumlin hospital, there is parent accommodation but unfortunately if you have a premature baby in one of the neo-natal intensive care units, you have no support, no help, and no accommodation.

So parents are separated from their little sick premature baby, when they really needs the love, touch and feel of their mother and likewise the mothers instinct is to be with her baby. We know of parents who have slept in cars or sold every valuable they have, just to be close to their little baby, and some parents can’t even do this and they are forced to stay miles away while their baby is alone.

This is such a sad and difficult situation and it needs to be resolved. Every parent in Ireland should have the right to be with their baby. Please sign our petition so we can lobby our politicians, the government & the HSE to stop the unfair treatment of 100’s of parents in Ireland every year. Help to promote awareness of this problem, show your support and help us by passing this petition on to your family and friends.

These 4 extracts highlight what parents must endure

“I went into labour at 27 weeks, both my babies were transferred up to Dublin. One baby spent 12 weeks in Dublin and the other baby spent 16 weeks. We had to borrow from the credit union so I could stay in Dublin to pay for my accommodation. Four years later, I am still paying off the loan. I had to give up work as one of my little ones has severe cerebral palsy”

"After 2 full term babies, I went into labour and delivered my 3rd at 24 weeks. She was transferred up to Dublin with the neonatal transport team. I drove 5 hours the next day after giving birth. The hospital was fanastic but there was no where for me to stay, the first couple of nights, I stayed in my car. I had to go home, I could not live like that. It broke my heart being separated from my baby when she needed me most. I could only go up for a day here or there. My heart would stop at home every time the phone rang, you think it’s the hospital ringing. I could never explain how hard it was to have a baby instead you one minute, then you are separated for weeks. After 12 weeks she was transferred closer to home, which was wonderful. I got very depressed after this birth and I believe this separation was to blame. I am taking each day as it comes. I would hate any other mother to go through what I did"

"I was expecting twins and sadly lost one at 26 weeks. I was transferred up to Dublin to be monitored by specialists, I ended up going into labour at 26+5. I had to deal with loosing one baby and having another baby in intensive care fighting for life. The hospital allowed me to stay for 10 days but they were so busy I had to be discharged then. I had to travel up and down to Kilkenny every day. It was exhausting. After loosing my son, all I wanted was to stay with my little girl but we just did not have the money. When you think of all the money wasted by our governments over the years and they could have helped parents like me by providing some type of place to stay. My little girl was transferred to Crumlin for heart surgery and I got to stay beside her for a few magical days but apart from that, I had to travel up and down to Dublin while grieving for Adam"

"One day I was considering when to start buying items for my little bump, the next day, I was covered in blood and heading by ambulance to the A& E. I went into labour after a placental abruption. I had a general when I gave birth, when I woke up and recovered, my daughter was getting stabilised and ventilated to be transferred up to Dublin. I had to stay in hospital for 6 days. It was awful being in a room with other mothers and their babies. My husband went with our daughter and stayed in the local B & B close to the hospital. When I was well enough, my husband came home to get me. As I had a c-section I was not in a position to drive. I was booked into stay in the B&B, while my husband had to return home for work. If it was not for the mother mums in the unit, I think I would have gone insane. Here I was a first time mum, with a sick baby in intensive care and all alone in a city I knew nobody, recovering from major surgery in holiday accommodation. It was not how I thought it would be when I had my baby. It was €45 a night for the accommodation, after 4 weeks my funds were running low. In order to stay in Dublin I had to sell my car so we could afford the accommodation costs. My little one was numerous set backs and problems but after 13 weeks, she was transferred to Crumlin and she stayed there for just over a month and was transferred back home. It’s so unfair that mothers are separated from their baby unless they have the money to pay for accommodation"

We have just started this project and have allocated €2,000 to it, it's not much but its a start. €3000 was added 23/07/2011 by people who did a parachute jump for the charity.